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Futurama series 2
Leela and Zap Brannigan

I'm a huge fan of Futurama, and the return of the show through the recent direct to DVD film was much appreciated.  I still love the Simpsons, but Futurama passed them in quality years ago.

Toynami released two figures based on the show last year - Fry and Zoidberg.  Fry was pretty much just a re-issue of the old Moore Action Collectibles version, but of course Zoidberg was completely new.

The second series has just hit, and includes Leela (another figure already done by MAC) and Zap Brannigan.  Like the first two figures, these include additional parts to build the Robot Devil.  To complete the figure though, you'll have to wait until the third series of two figures hit, including Bender and Kif.

These run around $13 - $15, depending on the retailer of course.  The next two won't be out for awhile, as the pre-orders aren't even up yet.







Packaging - ***
Like the original boxes, these look good and store fairly easy for the MIBers.  They're even pretty collector friendly, as you can open them from the bottom, slide the tray out, and there's only one twisty tie holding them in.  If you want to pop them back in later, you can do it without damaging anything.

Sculpting - Zap ***; Leela **1/2
I generally love Toynami's work - but this time I have to admit to being disappointed.

Zap's not bad, although there are still a few issues.  It's never as easy as people assume to get animated designs translated into three dimensional figures, but they did a decent job with Zap.  The scale is pretty good, both with the other figures and internally with himself.

His pose is classic Zap, but I'm not sure about the grin.  He's showing his teeth, and something about it just doesn't scream "I'm Zap Brannigan!".

He can't hold any accessories, and he doesn't actually come with any to hold.  He tends to lean forward a bit, but does manage to stand fine on his own in the basic pose.

Leela isn't so lucky.  With those tiny feet and the big hair, she simply can't stand on her own.  And you know how much that bugs me.

If you turn her head, and reach out her arms (preferably with a blaster in her hand), you can get her center of gravity set just right and she'll stay up.  But it's an awkward, uncomfortable pose, and the slightest breeze will topple her.  Figures need to be able to stand on their own, particularly when there is a) little articulation and b) no stand to help them.

She has some other sculpting issues as well.  The wide open eye doesn't do a lot for me, and something seems off about the size of her legs and arms compared to her head and pony tail.  Unlike Fry, they did NOT use the MAC figure this time, and I think that was a big mistake.  And there's a not so attractive huge mold pimple on the right side of her neck.

She can hold either of the blasters in her right hand though, and the left hand sculpt is a decent gesturing pose.  The head sculpt isn't bad taken by itself, and even might be the original MAC version repainted.  But the body is new, and is too dull of a pose for such an unarticulated figure.

Paint - Zap ***; Leela **
Poor Leela loses again.  Zap looks decent, and has the right colors in the right spots.  He does exhibit some of that slop and bleed that seems all to common with animated characters though, and there's some poor cut lines around the eyes and teeth.

He fits in pretty well with the first series pair though, and if you pick him out on the shelf you might manage to get a good example.  As you can see from the final photo, he is show accurate underneath the uniform.

Leela has more slop than Zap.  The eye has some stray marks, along with the bleed and poor cut lines.  The pupil is too far off center, and the lipstick is quite sloppy.  There's bleed between several colors on the uniform as well.

Her biggest paint issue is her hair, which is definitely not the proper shade.  It's much too hot pink, and throws off her entire look.

Articulation - Zap **; Leela *1/2
I was pretty shocked by how unarticulated these figures were, particularly Leela.

Zap has a cut neck, cut shoulders and cut waist.  Yep, that means he looks good in maybe two poses.

Leela is worse, simply because the old MAC version had so much more articulation.  This version only has neck, shoulders and waist again.  There's also a lot of gapping at the shoulders, making the joints unattractive as well as not particularly useful. 

Accessories - Zap ****; Leela ***
Both figures come back a bit with this category.

The have parts for the Devil Robot, the BAF you can create if you buy all six figures in the first three waves.  Zap has the arms, and Leela has the pelvis with tail.  I was going to break out the other pieces from the first series, but what's the point until we have a complete robot.  I love the BAF concept, but this might be dragging it out a bit too long.

UPDATE! The hands on the Robot Devil arms pop off quite easily...and as I recall, it was part of Toynami's early plans to have those hands swap with the hands on Fry.  I heard from a reader that tried that though, and Fry's hands do not appear to be removable, but glued in.  The pins broke on his, so if you're going to try this, you might want to be very, very careful.

She also comes with two blasters, which she can hold pretty well.  A display stand would have been much appreciated, and she does have holes already in her feet.

Zap has the best accessory of the year.  He comes with the podium, complete with microphone and Presidential seal, all done up nicely in scale.  He also has the very cool Nixon head in a jar, with the name Richard Nixon across the front. The sculpt and paint are good, and the scale is just about right.

It's interesting to note that there is a post sticking out of the bottom of the jar.  Right about where you'd connect said jar to the body of Bender.  Hmmm.  I wonder if the series 3 Bender will have a removable head, so that you can attach the Nixon head.  Wouldn't that be pretty damn cool?

Fun Factor - **
With the limited articulation, there's not much play value here.  If you knew that was coming, you won't be disappointed.

Value - Zap **1/2; Leela **
Zap is an average value, especially since he has the excellent Nixon accessory.

But Leela just doesn't have enough punch to be worth the $1 or more price tag.

Things to Watch Out For - 
Not a thing, once they are open.  Of course, if you're picking them out on the shelf, you'll want to watch out for the best paint you can find.

Overall - Zap ***; Leela **
I'm being pretty rough on Leela, but I was expecting something more along the lins of the quality of the old MAC figure.  I know Toynami can do better than this, and the license deserves it.

Zap isn't bad though, and is a decent addition to the series.  Add him in with the Fry, Bender, and Zoidberg and you'll be happy enough.  But if you need a Leela, I suggest hunting up the Moore version, rather than this one.

Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpt - Zap ***; Leela **1/2
Paint - Zap **1/2; Leela **
Articulation - Zap **; Leela *1/2
Accessories - Zap ****; Leela ***
Fun Factor - **
Value -  Zap **1/2; Leela **
Overall - Zap ***; Leela **

Where to Buy -
There are plenty of options if you can't find these locally:

- Amazing Toyz has the singles for $13 each or $23 for the pair.

- CornerStoreComics also has them for $13 each, or $23 for the pair.

- or search ebay with MyAuctionLinks.

- Related Links -
I have actually reviewed quite a bit of Futurama product:

- Toynami got their feet wet with the Futurama I-men, and the first series of these figures.

- there's the series 1 set from MAC, along with the Toyfare exclusive Leela.  There was also some Christmas ornaments, a larger scale (8") Nibbler.

- Rocket USA did some cool die cast figures and the tin wind up Bender.

- there were also quite a few bendies, including Kif and Leela.

- and if you're looking for the unique, try the Horrible Gelatinus BloB, or the Brain Slug!

  Also, don't forget that you can still order the Toyfare Zoidberg variant.

 

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Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford.

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